“Miranda…” Alex growled, his fingers curling into fists. “Of course. Well, that settles it. We can’t trust Sebastian. So, this is over.”
“We have to trust Sebastian. He’s in with The Board. And he’s determined to take them down.”
Alex scoffed. “So, he says. Ava, these people robbed me, kidnapped me, and now tried to kill you. No, we aren’t helping Biceps Bancroft.”
“Alex, we have to. I know this is hard. It was hard when I realized who he was, but…I don’t know…I believe him.”
Alex’s shoulders slumped. “You’re kidding me.”
“I’m not. I’m so not that I even hacked your laptop and grabbed those files we lost when we were attacked. I was working on trying to get into his system at his safe house to get the decryption software, but I hit a wall. And then my wonderful husband arrived, and I had to reunite with him.”
He offered her an amused smile. “That’s funny, Avs. Don’t try to butter me up by reminding me that you are actually alive because I’m ready to kill you.”
She cupped his face in her hands as she kissed him. “You are not. And as much as you hate this, you know I’m right. Now…we need information on what happened with Sebastian.”
She shoved the laptop toward him and patted his chest. “Think you can handle that, babe?”
“With my hands tied behind my back, Avs. I just don’tknow if I want to. I’m still not convinced, but if you insist who am I to say no to my beautiful, still alive wife?”
She perched on the arm of the chair as he collapsed into it and opened the laptop. With a few flexes of his fingers, he navigated to the DHS and carefully hacked his way inside.
“Let’s see…what happened to you, Rav—Sebast—what are we supposed to call him?”
“Oh, I gave him a new nickname, babe. Shadow.”
“Ohhh,” he said, his eyes going wide. “I like it.”
She grinned at him. “I do, too. He hates it.”
Alex returned his gaze to the screen, smirking. “I like it even more now.”
“Okay, let’s see where Shadow is.” Alex navigated through the file system in search of any information.
“There,” Ava said as she poked a finger at a file with her name. “Try this one.”
Alex shook his head, a frown deepening as he scrolled through the file. “Nothing in here, and you’re listed as deceased.”
His voice wavered slightly, the weight of the words hitting harder than he anticipated. He paused, glancing up at her, the reality of her “death” sitting uncomfortably between them.
She rubbed his shoulder, laying her head against his. “I’m not dead, Ace.”
He snaked an arm around her. “And I am super grateful for that, Sparky.”
They shared a kiss before he returned to his search. He shook his head after a few minutes. “I don’t see anything.”
She clicked her tongue as he moved on to the other task of finding the decryption software as Ava rose and stalked across the room to the picture above the mantel.
Her eyes shifted to the television, and she grabbed the remote and toggled it on.
A reporter stood on a familiar looking beach. Ava crinkled her brow as she squinted at the television. “Hey Ace, this is the abandoned resort, right?”
Alex glanced up from his laptop, cocking his head. “Yep, that’s it. What happened?”
She turned up the volume, listening to the report.
“…where we are being told a suspect in the bombing of the DHS flight that killed Ava Collins, wife of tech guru, Alex Stone, has slipped through the fingers of FBI agents. The agents ask that anyone in this area be on the lookout for a wounded man wearing a mask. Agents tell us that they believe he has been shot.”
Ava whipped around to face Alex, her eyes wide. “Shot? Alex, we have to find him.”
